The present invention relates to a set of ornaments or an array of ornaments for providing a predetermined emblem or mark, which comprise the combination of plural ornamental units each having an independent configuration such as a character, figure, symbol or the like, and to a method for manufacturing such set of ornaments.
A set of ornaments or an array of ornaments made of thin synthetic resin material and comprising the combination of plural ornamental units each having an independent configuration such as a character, figure or the like to provide a predetermined emblem is already known (refer to the Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-18674). This conventional set of ornaments has a laminated structure including a binding sheet having both surfaces coated by adhesive (referred to as "double-sided adhesive sheet" hereinafter) attached to the back of each ornamental unit, a release strip covering the double-sided adhesive sheet on the ornamentals units, and a retainer strip attached to the front surface of the ornament set for holding the ornamental units in a predetermined relative position. In use, the release strip is peeled from the double-sided adhesive sheet, the exposed adhesive surface of the double-sided adhesive sheet is fixed to a body to be ornamentalized or decorated, and, thereafter, the retainer strip is removed from the front surface of the ornament set, thereby applying the emblem on the body.
In general, a rear panel of a passenger car can have a set of ornaments attached thereto to provide and emblem, similar to the above-mentioned ornament set. However, in the past, such ornaments had a thickness of a few millimeters or more and were made of relatively hard material. In this case, unlike the above-mentioned ornament set made of resin sheet material, the ornaments were molded integrally with a holding bar or holding base plate (for holding the ornament units together) made of the same material as that of the ornaments. In use, the molded ornament set with the holding bar was attached to the body to be decorated, through a double-sided adhesive sheet.
However, this conventional ornament set having the holding bar molded integrally therewith limits the range of possible ornamentations, since the ornament units (characters and the like) must be held or retained together by the integral holding bar or base plate. That is to say, each of the ornament units cannot inevitably be seen independently. In order to avoid this, only the holding bar or base plate can be painted in the same color as that of the body as if the ornament units are seen independently. However, this raises a problem in that the cost of the ornament set increases and the manufacture and/or control of the ornament set is more troublesome.
Further, a method wherein ornament units are formed independently and are attached one by one to a body to be decorated has also been proposed. However, in this case, if a double-sided adhesive sheet or tape is used for attaching each ornament unit to the body, since an area of the back surface of each ornament unit is small, the adhesion force provided by the double-sided adhesive sheet fixed to the back of the ornament unit will be too weak to hold the ornament unit on the body adequately. Accordingly, in this method, the double-sided adhesive sheet was not used, and, alternatively, a projection was formed on the back of each ornament unit and a corresponding hole was formed in the body so that each ornament unit was attached to the body by inserting the projection into the corresponding hole and by fixing the projection in the hole by means of an appropriate fastener.
However, this method has disadvantages in that corrosion of the body occurs due to water entering through the holes, and the attaching operation is troublesome, takes a long time and is expensive.